The University of Wisconsin has been a leader for decades in providing future turf managers with all the tools needed for success with traditional, degree-based education.
Today, the university also is playing a leading role in helping those seeking a turf management education without investing the time and finances required in a conventional baccalaureate program.
The university's turf department recently wrapped up version three and opened registration for the fourth edition of its turfgrass apprenticeship program, an accelerated track that helps prepare students for careers in turf through a curriculum consisting of two 12-week sessions of in-class instruction and a traditional internship. The apprenticeship was developed by University of Wisconsin professors Paul Koch, Ph.D., and Doug Soldat, Ph.D., in collaboration with the Wisconsin Golf Course Superintendent's Association.
"Every time Doug Soldat and I would visit a golf course, nobody wanted to talk about diseases, or turfgrass. They wanted to talk about labor," Koch said. "We didn't have as many students and they wanted to know where their next assistant was going to come from and what we were doing to address that."
Courses that are taught are:
- Intro to Turfgrass Management (fall semester)
- Intro to Turfgrass Soils, Irrigation and Drainage (fall)
- Nutrient Management (winter)
- Integrated Pest Management (winter)
Classroom instruction is taught by Soldat and Koch. The fall term runs from early November to mid-December. The winter session begins in mid-January and ends in late February. Students then are required to complete a field-based apprenticeship at a golf course, athletic complex or other turf management facility. Registration for the next session begins Saturday.
Many of the students in the apprenticeship program already are working at a golf course, but lack the education needed to advance their careers.
"Some have already been working at a golf course for five, six or seven years, and want to take that next step that wouldn't be available to them without some education," Koch said. "Some are right out of high school, and some have a B.S. degree in something else and are career-changers.
"Since many of these students already work on a golf course, this is more about identifying someone on your team who has potential and helping them develop that talent."
To date, the program has graduated about 55 students. Most come from inside Wisconsin, but it also attracts students from Minnesota and the Chicago area.
"I mean I never really had any of the formal education we get with the (apprenticeship) program," Brad Young, a graduate of the program, said in a video promoting the apprenticeship program. "It's here you learn the sciences, you learn the grasses, you learn the soils, you learn practices."